Device for operating zip fasteners



March 28, 1967 s. P. WINN 3,310,853

DEVICE FOR OPERATING ZIP FASTENERS Filed May 5, 1965 IN v ENTOR STHNLE PEARSON w/ /v /WMMMM WWW/ n United States Pate O 3,31%,853 DEVICE FOR OPERATENG Z11 FASTENER Stanley P. Winn, 26 Wiiliam St, Roseville, New South Wales, Anstralia Filed May 5, M65, Ser. No. 453,270 Claims priority, application Austraiia, May 8, 1964, 44,247/64 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-20515) The present invention relates to a device for operating zip fasteners and has as its object the provision of a device which is of particular utility in closing and opening a zip fastener located at the back of a frock or jacket.

The opening and closing of a zip fastener arranged in the back of a garment, particularly one of considerable length extending from the neck to below the waistline, tends to present certain well recognized difliculties and the present invention provides a device which greatly facilitates the operation.

A device according to the invention for operating zip fasteners consists of an elongated body in the form of a rod or other member, having a handle at one end of a hook at the other end adapted for engagement with an eye or other aperture in the tongue or other device associated with the slider of a zip fastener, there being provided adjacent the hook projecting means arranged and adapted to deflect from the path of the slider adjacent portions of an undergarment worn by the user and adjacent overlapping portions of the garment in which the zip fastener is fixed.

In order that the invention may be better understood and put into practice a preferred form thereof is hereinafter described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the manner in which the device is used,

FIG. 2 is a part-sectional elevation of the device showing the means for deflecting portions of clothing extended (the handle being shown rotated through 180 degrees for convenience of illustration), and

FIG. 3 is a similar view of the lower end of the device with the deflecting means retracted.

In the preferred form the invention consists of a rod 16 which may be of the order of 12 inches long and may be made from wood, metal or synthetic plastic material, preferably the latter. At one end the rod is provided with a handle 11 which is preferably arranged at an angle to the axis of the rod in such a manner that the handle may be held in the hand behind the neck of a user with the rod pointing vertically downwards (as shown in FIG. 1). The precise shape of the handle is not important provided that it can be easily and conveniently held in the hand. The handle may be made in wood, metal or plastic material and in the latter case may be moulded in one piece with the rod.

At the other end the rod is provided with a tubular extension 12 of a length of about 3 or 4 inches, the tube forming this extension being provided on one side with a longitudinal slot 13 in which a projecting slider 14 may be moved. The tubular extension is preferably moulded in one piece with the rod.

The slider 14 has attached to its inner face a flexible tongue 15 which is made preferably of plastic material and which by movement of the slider 14 can be caused to project from or be retracted into the tubular extension (as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively).

The flexible tongue 15 is preferably slightly curved away from the axis of the tubular extension 12, the surface of the extreme tip 16 of the tongue 15 however being arranged approximately parallel to the axis of the tubular extension when the tongue projects as in FIG. 2.

Mounted on the convex side of the tongue 15, that is to say the side nearer to the axis of the tubular extension, are a pair of light relatively flexible wires 17 and 18 which are aflixed at one end to the tongue 15. They are shaped to project from the surface of the tongue for a short distance and are thereafter splayed apart to project on either side of the tongue in a direction away from the axis of the tubular extension (as seen in FIG. 1). The wires 17 and 18 described above bear on and provide a means for deflecting from the path of the slider of a zip fastener being closed by means of the device, the overlapping material or fabric used to camouflage the zip fastener and the tongue 15 presses on underclothing beneath, to prevent either snagging in the teeth of the fastener while the fastener is closing.

At the end of the tubular extension 12, at the side opposite the slider 14, is arranged an elongated hook 21 having an end portion adapted to be passed through the usual hole in the slider of a zip fastener, the hook being constructed in such a manner that the slider is prevented from passing beyond the curve of the hook. This may be done by providing an enlarged portion 22 or any suitable form of construction at the curved portion of the hook. The hook is preferably of an elongated form in which the end portion for engagement with the slider of a zip fastener is substantially straight and parallel to the axis of the tubular extension.

In use, if it is desired to close a zip fastener arranged in the back of a garment the hook 21 is first engaged with the slider of the zip fastener or any member attached to it, by passing it through a hole in the slider or the member. The device is then held in the manner described above and shown in FIG. 1, so that it projects vertically downwardly with the hook directed away from the body of the wearer. The tongue is then extended from the tubular extension by means of the slider 14 and the flexible wires 17 and 18 extend one on each side. The device is then moved steadily upwards to close the zip fastener. Obstruction of the movement of the slider of the Zip fastener by the material of the garment in which the fastener is mounted or of the undergarments worn beneath, being prevented by the action of the tongue 15 and the wires 17 and 13 described above. After the fastener has been fully closed the hook is disengaged from the slider.

When not in use the projecting hook 21 and the open end of the tubular extension may be protected by means of a metal or other cap (not shown) arranged to fit over the end of the tubular extension.

The embodiment of the invention described above is given by way of example only as constituting one particular form of the invention defined in the succeeding claims. The nature of the means used to deflect portions of garments from the path of the slider may be varied from those described above provided that they produce the same effects. A variety of other modifications within the general scope of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. A device for operating zip fasteners comprising an elongated body in the form of a rod having a handle at one end and a hook at the other end adapted for engagement with an aperture in the tongue associated with the slider of a zip fastener, means defining a projection extending outwardly adjacent each sideof the hook arranged and adapted to deflect from the path of the slider adjacent portions of an undergarment worn by the user and adjacent overlapping portions of the garment in which the zip fastener is fixed, said body having a tubular extension at one end on which the said projecting means are slidably mounted so as to be capable of being retracted into and being extended from said tubular extension at will.

3 2. A device according to c1aim 1, wherein said means 2,867,880 defining a projection includes spaced apart resilient 2,898,141 members. 3,059,301 3,122,809

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,161,657 11/1915 Graves 294-26 X BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR OPERATING ZIP FASTENERS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BODY IN THE FORM OF A ROD HAVING A HANDLE AT ONE END AND A HOOK AT THE OTHER END ADAPTED FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH AN APERTURE IN THE TONGUE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SLIDER OF A ZIP FASTENER, MEANS DEFINING A PROJECTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY ADJACENT EACH SIDE OF THE HOOK ARRANGED AND ADAPTED TO DEFLECT FROM THE PATH OF THE SLIDER ADJACENT PORTIONS OF AN UNDERGARMENT WORN BY THE USER AND ADJACENT OVERLAPPING PORTIONS OF THE GARMENT IN WHICH THE ZIP FASTENER IS FIXED, SAID BODY HAVING A TUBULAR EXTENSION AT ONE END ON WHICH THE SAID PROJECTING MEANS ARE SLIDABLY MOUNTED SO AS TO BE CAPABLE OF BEING RETRACTED INTO AND BEING EXTENDED FROM SAID TUBULAR EXTENSION AT WILL. 